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IXL

A New Home for Charlie

Price: Android - Paid iPhone/iPad - Paid

Teacher Overview

Follow the story of Charlie as he settles into his new home and makes new friends in this charming and beautifully animated storybook with fun and entertaining additional sections.

Teacher Review

Charlie the Chocolate Chihuahua is the alliterative star of this app and this gives him much to do as this app contains plenty of content.  The first perception of this app is that it is an interactive story book app, which indeed it is, but it also contains a goodly amount of extras that add to its value.  
 
Charlie’s story is beautifully drawn and animated.  The bright and colourful backgrounds give the story a warm environment in which to develop the characters of Charlie himself, his adopted brothers and other back garden creatures.  Each page of the story is given life by the antics and actions of these participants.  Their comical animations both illustrate the story and offer children the chance to gain extra entertainment by finding further animations on the page.
 
The tale of Charlie is longer than many story apps that you may have already tried and can be shown in a few different ways.  The pictures can be presented with the written words to be read by the child alone accompanied by sound effects, or it can be read to children by the app itself with the written words being highlighted as they are spoken.  This is a particularly nice mode as the narrator and each of the characters have a different voice and each speaks or sings their own words.  This is also educationally useful for early readers as they can’t help but follow the written progress of the story, linking written and spoken words together.  The story itself progresses at a gentle pace and offers a number of morals during the story, often about how to treat others. 
 
While the story is the main part of this app the other sections are well developed.  There is a drawing section where children can put their artistic skills to use and bring in the characters from the story using the rubber stamp tool.  A play section includes two different activity types.  One of these is a number of jigsaws featuring scenes from the story and this provides another fun and well-made distraction.  Finally there is a concentration/matching pairs game that helps to build focus and memory skills in children.  While not particularly original, both are well made and are not the lower quality afterthought that you may have seen in other apps of this type.
 
The app is easy to navigate, although the buttons for choosing each option are distinguished by words rather than icons, which may be a challenge for some young users of the app.  The delay between sections is also slightly longer than you may expect at first but is quickly gotten used to.
 
This app is fully featured and definitely good value for its price.  The participants in the story are very likely to be popular with children and their animations will give a good reason to revisit the story multiple times. An entertaining and fun filled app that will help children develop a love for stories.

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Screenshots

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Developer Description

Small is the New Big! Read, Watch, Play, Create, and Discover with Charlie the Chocolate Chihuahua! It isn’t easy being little, but it sure is fun! Charlie the Chocolate Chihuahua is a tiny dog in a big world! Help Charlie find his way in his new home with this engaging, fun, and thoughtful family entertainment that will inspire creativity.

It isn’t easy being little, but it sure is fun! Read about Charlie's adventures in an interactive storybook, Create Pictures with Charlie and his friends, Play Jigsaw Puzzles and Solve Memory Games! In addition, the storybook contains PAWS for thoughts that encourage parent-child discussions about responsibility, confidence, and other life lessons. Children will have fun with this inspiring and humorous “TAIL.”

Download now to discover an adventurous tale for all! Teach your children valuable life lessons about not giving up with Charlie as he finds acceptance by demonstrating that everyone is good at something and anything is possible with teamwork!

Meet and interact with the many animal friends that inhabit Charlie the Chocolate Chihuahua’s backyard – Felix, the fox terrier; Sammy, the schnauzer; Shearl, the tailless squirrel; Gopher; and the singing Backyard Birds – Rockin’ Rob Robin, Papa Pete Pigeon, and Sweet Cindy Sparrow.

The storybook contains:

  • Delightful illustrations and animation
  • Four modes - Read to Me, Read to Myself, Watch, and Play
  • Mini-games
  • Professional character voices, original music, and sound effects
  • ”PAWS for Thought,” where topics are presented that encourage helpful parent and child discussions about character building, anti-bullying, and values.

Charlie's Creation Station includes:

  • Dozens of simple-to-use, immersive painting, drawing, and mixed media collage tools
  • Coloring pages, textures, and stamps derived from the artwork and characters from the storybook
  • Images may be saved to your device's photo gallery for sharing

Enjoy Jigsaw Puzzles with scenes from the storybook and bonus images you created in the Creation Station. You can control difficulty, set the number of pieces and whether they can rotate, as well as special effects. You can also track your level of improvement – a great tool for children!

Delight in the animated and interactive storybook, “A New Home for Charlie," and immerse yourself in Charlie the Chocolate Chihuahua’s Creation Station, jigsaw puzzles, and games.

A portion of revenues goes to Rocket Dog Rescue, a rescue group that places dogs in approved homes.

Also, Charlie the Chocolate Chihuahua’s best friend, Shearl the Tailless Squirrel, needs help to gather her many golden acorns and get home safely. Play the exciting line rider game, "Charlie and Shearl's Acorn Hero" - available in the app store.

Notable Features:

  • ENGAGE - fun, interactive storybook with four modes - Read to Me, Read to Myself, Watch, and Play
  • DISCOVER - animations and fun sound surprises
  • PAINT & DRAW - Simple to use, immersive, paint, draw, and mixed media collage tools
  • SOLVE - Jigsaw Puzzles with storybook scenes and images you create
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